Unfolding

mixed ensemble [fl,bs. cl, tpt, vla,vc, cb, 2 perc]
2007
30’

Written for collaborative project with Tzveta Kassabova (choreographer)

First performance: April 2007, conducted by Shy-Luen Chen (University of Maryland – College Park, MD)

Notes

A growing interest in the theatrical side of musical performance has been the genesis of this dissertation. Although intended as a piece that should make sense musically (in a concert situation, that is) Unfolding was created as a multi-disciplinary work, where I have explored some of the ways in which a musical piece is perceived when put together with elements that belong to other artistic fields. Within the scope of this dissertation, those fields included Dance, the Visual Arts (represented by the live video,) Architecture, and Theatre (acknowledging here that, even though Theatre never played an active role in the development of the piece, different kinds of theatrical resources stand out when Unfolding is performed)

Formally, the piece was originally conceived as a main development that starts after a Prelude and evolves through sections I, III, and V, being interrupted twice, in II, and IV. In reality, however, the mentioned development does not happen in a classical fashion. Instead, musical gestures and ideas unfold (hence the title) throughout I and III, reaching its highest point of tension shortly before the second appearance of the trumpet at the end of V. Instrumentation was also planned early, trying to force different performance situations between dancers and musicians through the use of a different number of instruments on each section. Consequently, the piece starts with a solo that soon becomes a duet (in the Prelude), followed by a trio that becomes a quartet (in I, considering the percussion as only one part), continues as a quartet throughout III, and grows up to a septet (in V) and eventually an octet when the trumpet appears. At the same time, the solo of II and the duet of IV, which is compositionally an extension of II, interrupt the growing nature of the group. The abrupt appearances of the trumpet in II, and III, and its final emergence at the end of the piece, are treated as means of formal unity.